A wolf needs a pack (undergoing rewrite )
by StarMaker674
Summary: Brandon the builder discovers something that forever changes the history of westeros . Heavily AU.
1. The Direwolf rises

**I don't own A Song of Ice and Fire . If I did , I would have finished the winds of Winter by now . The only things I own are houses redstark , Barrowstarks and Marchstarks .**

 **"** Winter is coming " House Stark motto

"A lone wolf dies in winter , but the pack survives " common phrase in the North

"I swear by the old gods to forever be their sword that kills the vile, to be the shield that protects the innocent and to be the lantern to guide the lost to them for I am now a mere man no longer for now I bear the mark of the laughing tree" the oath of an initiate to the order of the laughing tree

"As old as trees" the words of the Barrowkings

Rise of the direwolf

8000 years brfore Robert`s Rebellion after the defeat of thr others in the long night , Brandon the Builder raised the Wall to protect the realms of men and founded the order of the Night`s watch and built the castle of Winterfell , which would serve as the seat of house Stark for centuries to come . Although by the time of writing very little of the original Winterfell remains, the castle being renovated, sacked and rebuilt more times than the Starks themselves.

During a visit to the wall , Brandon found himself separated from his party during a terrible blizzard . Alone in the wildrness it seemed that he would meet his end , however he stumbled upon a herd of strange looking cows , covered in long wavy coats that provided protection . Brandon managed to kill one and cooked its meat and used its coat to warm himself , allowing him to survive long enough to be found by his escorts.

After his survival , Brandon saw great potential in the Bovines , realizing that they could survive in conditions where most other farm animals would perish . So He rounded up an entire herd with his escort and cut his visit to the wall short . Brandon then buried himself in his work , hiring the best herdsmen and cattle breeders from throughout the North , not just the lands of house Stark , believing that these cows could provide an advantage to the starks over the other kingdoms of the north . Many people thought that Brandon had gone mad , Time however soon proved him right. In the meantime Brandon had earned a new moniker in the North "Brandon the herder".

Thanks to Brandon , the starks and their people had a stable food supply and their lands prosperd , villages soon spread like wildfire . This also meant that the starks could field a much larger army than their lands would otherwise allowed . Thus when the Starks and Barrow kings went to war , the more numerous Stark armies managed to hold their own against the Barrow kings in a war that lasted for many years . The Barrows had started the war when they saw Winterfell's power grow too much for their comfort; despite the Starks being technically loyal vassals. His worries might not be unfounded though for the Starks were kings in all but name and had amassed armies equal to those of their supposed Overlords and it was they supported the night's watch. The people didn't see the Barrows in their lands much for they were content in their Barrows; it was the Starks who kept the peace and dispensed Justice, so the people started whispering the Starks should be kings.

The war was long and brutal. The Barrows held the initial advantage of suprise but the Starks had the numbers to match them; at least at first, but the Barrow kings had much larger influence in the North and forged an alliance with the March Kings , The Bolton Red kings and had even bought sellswords from south of the neck. Thus the Starks despite their increased numbers found themselves ironically outnumbered in many battles. Their lowest point came when a Stark king was killed by some sellswords and his body looted after a devastating defeat that had cost the Starks half their armies.

In the first ten years of war it seemed the Starks would lose and their rise to power strangled in its crip. But then Winter came, one of the harshest in known memory . Dwindling food supplies and grumbling soliders forced the Barrow army's to relinquish some of their gains and gave the Starks time to regroup and reorganise and this was the turning point for the Starks. The cows that Brandon had been so obsessed had proven lifesaving being able to survive the harsh winter and providing a year round food source. Thus while the rest of the houses were forced to rely on stores from the summertime and had to keep their armies at home, the Starks were free to fight in the winter. Burning villages to the ground, laying seige to castles packed full with starving soliders; piece by bloody piece the Starks reclaimed everything that was taken back and more. What's more when the Barrow king had offended the Warg king by rejecting his daughter's hand and mocking him in court. The warg king in return joined forces with the Starks.

The war lasted for a further ten years, but now the Stark armies were the ones on the offensive and were marching towards the Barrowton in an ironic twist of events. Their alliance with the warg kings served them well for from them the Starks learned their secrets of warging and greenseeing. Legends tell of armies heralded by Massive Direwolves, eagles intercepting raven letters and Shadowcats used as deadly assassins . None of these would be verified until the war of twelve kings.

In the final battle, King Rodrik Stark X brought 20000 soliders to Barrowton. The Barrows ;abandoned by their allies and their peasants starving could barley muster 7000 poorly trained levies. The last Barrow king wanted a last stand but his son and subjects didn't share that. And so the prince overthrow his father in a relatively bloodless coup and presented him to king Rodrik as a peace offering. The Barrows became the Dustins and were vassals to the Starks now. Rodrik had the princess taken as a hostage to ensure their compliance and would eventually marry her to his younger brother forming House Barstark which would begin a long tradition of cadet houses (which would be used to watch over new possibly rebellious vassals).

Eventuallly when Brandon the Breaker and King beyond the wall Joramun defeated the night king , Brandon made an offer to the Wildlings , if they swore fealty to the House Stark , they would be allowed South to live under his protection . The free folk were split , many wanted to remain free content to remian raiders while most wanted a better life for their children and a safer lifestyle . In the end Joramun kneeled to Brandon and the free folk were allowed south , but many tribes refused and retreated further North and would fight the Night`s Watch for genertaions to come . The rest spread into the north and some in time integrate into northern society , eventually founding their own houses (houses such as Thenn, Rayder, Frost and Ictark) , while others held onto their life style , kneeling to no lord or king but the Starks and lived in their own villages . Some lords look at them with contempt as nothing but upjumped savages but the Starks know better than to waste Loyal subjects who are hard to come by.

The Srarks found themselves in a postion of power , now with an extra fifty thousand warriors , but that wasn`t the only thing they had now , for with the free folk , came the Giants and they brought mammoths , vicious beasts in war and excellent food sources and beasts of burden in peace . With their new power the Starks sought to unite the North. A tale claims that the greenmen and children of the forest warned the Stark king of a threat from the East and that the north would have to be united to face it. To this day every Stark king in addition to the traditional Kurasci (old tongue for wise man) has at least one child and green priest to advise him.

King Jon Stark had the Wolf`s Den built and gave it to his Bastard son Eddard who would form House Greystark; and gained the alligence of the Umbers , Blackwoods and Greenwoods peacefully . But not all houses joined the Starks peacefully; for the Starks had not forgotten who fought with the Barrows to exterminate them years ago.

Rickard "the Laughing Wolf " would conquer the march kings , placing house Reed as it's lords with his secondborn son establishing house Marchstark with the March kings youngest daughter. The fate of the rest of the family was to be buried in the earth except for their faces and they would be fed only for the worms to eat their bodies.

And to the north , King Brandon IX Stark stopped the raids of the Skagosi and forced them to sumbit to Winterfell's power . He had brought many mainlanders to the island to civilise it and assimilate the Skagosi but the result was a hybrid culture neither northern or free folk.

However , despite the many advantages of House Stark and having the backing of most of the north , The Red kings of dreadfort , were not dettered and fought the Starks with unrelenting ferocity , and while the Starks had the advantage in numbers , the boltons were more than willing to use unconventional tactics , for there was king Jonos Bolton , who managed to defeat a Stark host of ten thousand men and over a hundred mammoths by setting pigs on fire and having them charge the mammoths . The noises caused the mammoths to panic and sent them backwards trampling their own forces as bolton archers rained arrows from above . King Edywn Stark was captured and pieces of his skin was sent to Winterfell . The Bolton's were also not averse to dark magic, some saying they bargained with the others themselves for the power over shadows and necromancy. Tales of Men having their body parts removed and reattached to form Flayed men still make the blood of any norther run cold.

However , the deciding battle went to the Starks , for King Rickon "the black wolf " Stark marched on Dreadfort with an army of over 50000 men . After a long campaign of atrocities on both sides the Boltons were defeated and forced to bend. The Dreadfort was given to the newly christened Redstarks while the Boltons were reduced to ruling the town of Weeping water.

But king Rickon was overcome with guilt over the crimes he committed and went to the green men to ask for the forgiveness of the old gods. The green men gave him the location of a peculiar weirwood tree. This one was a deathly white and it's smiling face was stained red. It was here that he and all after him would surrender his old life and pledge himself to the old gods and the order of the laughing tree was born. Some say Rickon still walks the North seeking to punish sinners and protect the innocent.

For the first time in its history the North was united under one house , and for two centuries , the northerners lived in peace , rebuilding their towns , raising new castles and repairing old ones . But the peace was about to be broken as the Andals made their way to Westeros


	2. The Andals invade

**"** Whatever you worship I suggest you pray to it now"

"You are a cruel one, Hungry Wolf" Harrag Hoare king of the iron isles

"Sumbit or die; do we look like Reachmen". Unknown but said to be an Umber lord

 **The Andals invade**

10000 years after the Pact, a new people made their way into Westeros. From the east ca,e the Andals driven by their septons and visions of a promised land. Westeros was already home to a thousand kingdoms and had they stood together; they might have been able to beat the Andals despite their superior Steel weaponry and armoured knights. But Westeros was never famous for its solidarity and to the first men the Andals were just another enemy if one with different costumes and deadlier weapons. Some even welcomed them, until the Andals began cutting down the sacred weirwoods . By then the first men realised the Andals weren't mere warlords but something far more dangerous; Fanatics.

The conquest of the Vale was long and bloody. Through warfare and marriage alliances the Andals and the seven pointed stars took root in the vale with House Arryn becoming the kings of the mountain from their impregnable seat in the Eyrie.

Thousands of refugees flooded the nearby Riverlands and North bringing with them tales of the war and of strange men with weapons that cut through the finest bronze, of the heart trees and grooves being mercilessly cut down and burned and of the massacre of the children.

These stories were treated with disbelief at first but then as the green men and children of the forest felt each tree being cut down and felt their kin going silent, worry began to spread. It was all but confirmed with the arrival of several surviving noble houses seeking refuge and the few children who managed to survive. They warned that this fate may yet befall the North.

The new crowned king Theon Stark was young and his gaunt physique gave him a rather sickly appearance. Many doubted that he would able to lead the North during such hard times, but fortunately he would soon prove them all wrong.

The Stark King's first move was to forge an alliance with the River kings, who while divided were unofficially ; were represented by the Mudd Kings the most powerful kingdom at the time .To cement the Alliance Theon married the the Mudd king's daughter and oversaw the joining of several houses from the Riverlands to his vassals, in order to bind the still rivalling kings to him. House Blackwood was one of the houses that benefited the most and would carve out a new kingdom in the Riverlands years later. For now with the alliance secured King Theon marched what might have the greatest army ever seen in Westeros at the time. Tens of Thousands of men and women marched under the Stark banner, wargs brought forth Direwolves, Shadow cats and swarms of ravens that darkened the skies. Bear island's infamous bear Calvary that could tear through scores of men rode alongside Giants atop their terrifying war mammoths. But the most deadly were the children; marching for revenge they could turn the very land and sky against the invaders .

With such an army the Riverlands became a battlefield in the war that would be called by many names but is widely known as the war of Iron and Ice. The war lasted for years and devastated the land. While the Starks were winning every battle they were no closer to winning. For While they managed to defend the Riverlands they couldn't be everywhere at once and as the other kingdoms fell more soliders joined the side of the invaders. While the Stormlands and Iron islands held; Dorne and the Westerlands fell. The Reach had simply thrown down their weapons and welcomed the Andals, forsaking their gods and the children. To this day many among the first men see them as cowards and traitors.

But the greatest battle for the Starks wasn't in the Riverlands but in their own home . Argos Sevenstar rallied thousands to his cause and launched an attack on the Eastern shores . The North was defenceless and they raided and killed with impunity. King Theon was forced to take most of his army and leave north, effectively abandoning the Riverlands. This would sour relationships between the two kingdoms for centuries to come (though they would remain somewhat loose allies).

While Argos was dealt with quickly, he had shown how bold the Andals were becoming. Argos would merely be the first among many who would try to carve his own kingdom here unless something was done about it. But no one perhaps even the geeenseers could have predicted Theon's next action.

The hungry wolf somehow managed to craft an alliance with the ironborn king Harrag Hoare and with their combined fleets launched what would become known as The Northern Crusade. The fleet compromised mainly of the armies of the North and Iron isles, but with thousands of warriors from every kingdom eager to avenge their defeats, sailed to Andalos the home of the Andals themselves and laid waste to it.

Villages and towns were sacked and burned, its inhabitants dying in varying but equally horrific ways from being buried alive to flaying and being fed to the various beasts used by the armies. No one was spared not even children or infants. The septons and septas suffered worse fates which i don't feel compelled to add here. Ironically the ironborn were much more merciful 'merely' taking thralls and salt wives. These would be the only survivors . It's estimated Theon had killed off at least 2 million people in the crusade, depopulating Andalos completely. The only those left alive were those who decided to stay and build a life there their kingdoms back home having been conquered. In a twist of fate it was first men who lived in Andalos now (its name remains unchanged as a cruel mockery).

Legend has it that Theon Stark found and defiled the legendary tomb of Hugor Hill and pilfered it's treasures. Some say he he kept the skull of Hugor as a drinking cup(or chamber pot as some say ) .Others claim that it forms the base of a throne made from the skulls of every septon or septa unfortunate enough to fall to Theon hands(though to this day no such throne was ever found).

However the faith militants weren't deterred , instead they were outraged at the atrocity and rallied by the septons, men from all of the other kingdoms marched on the Neck in a great army . The army was formed of over 80000 poor fellows and 25000 warriors sons , led by the High Septon himself " the Warring one ". Faith however was no match to the Neck's poison or its inhabitants , for the crannogmen weren't interested in open warfare, and instead hid in their marches and slowly withered down the army with their poison darts , or simply let the swamps themselves do the work for them. As the faith militiant marched it was hampered by disease , starvation and predators . Entire units were lost to the bogs. Fear began to spread and the high Septon promise that salvation was at hand, did nothing to lift the men's spirits.

When the broken army finally made it through the neck , they were met by King Theon himself returning from his Crusade at the head of his massive army . While the faith militiant had a larger force , most were peasants who had never tasted true battle before and armed with what amounted sharpened sticks and shovels . The sight of the Northern war beasts and giants was very demoralising to say the least and was not what they had in mind when they joined. But it was too late to retreat and battle was joined. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history, for the faith militant knowing they cannot escape and knowing tales of the hungry wolf's atrocities fought to their dying breath, inflicting heavy casualties, the high septon was no exception and fought as if possessed by the warrior and even managed to slay many of Theon's wolf guard trying to kill the monarch. Theon was impressed and granted the man a clean quick death, which is more than can be said of other septons than have faced his wrath. This battle was over in the north , but a war was only getting started in the south, one not fought with swords and axes.


	3. A conquer's legacy

"If you have to choose between a wolf and a falcon, remember that falcons don't have fangs " often attributed King Erowen Sunderland

"We Starks don't bend our enemies, we break them " Theon Stark the Hungry Wolf

"The Hungry Wolf , The Bloody Winter, the Butcher King, The lord of heathens and so many other titles he was called but often do we forget that he was just a man underneath it all " the writings of Archmaester Walrfren

 ** _A conqueror's legacy_**

 ** _Wars of the North pt2_**

Following the crusade and the failed invasion, House Stark began to focus on securing its position in the Seven Kingdoms and ensure the North is safe from any further incursions . The sisters were three islands that were in a strategic position between the Vale and the North; whoever can secure it would have a launching point for an invasion . The sisters at the time were a haven for pirates, sellswords and outlaws. All of them answered to the Sunderlands who ruled the isles as Pirate kings.

At first the conflict between the Arryn and Stark was relatively uneventful, both sides using pirate proxies and minor naval skirmishes, but when a Royce heir was supposedly kidnapped by pirates claiming refuge on the sisters and demanding an exuberant ransom. This blatant insult to one of their most powerful vassals didn't sit well with the Arryns who launched an invasion not long afterwards. The invasion of the three sisters was not the walkover the valemen had hoped for, as the sistermen resisted with all their might and unlike the men of the falcon, they weren't perverse to more less than honourable tactics. But things got complicated when the northerners arrived with Theon personally leading , and the war grew into a three way conflict. King Theon and his Arryn counterpart seeking to gain control over the island for strategic purposes and King Sunderland in the middle trying to maintain his people's independence.

The war while relatively lasting only a short was very brutal even by Westerosi standards. It's estimated that almost a third of the population was killed in massacres and unspeakable atrocities committed by both sides. It also unsurprisingly coincided with a period of increased piracy as Sistermen attacked any unarmed vessels in their waters out of sheer paranoia and desperation. The war was taking its toll on the islands draining its resources, people and severely reducing the amount of trade. if something wasn't done quickly then the sistermen would die.

To that end the Sister King decided he needed to choose a side in the war. Both would demand he take off his crown and submit to them. While humiliating it was more preferable than being killed. The only question was which side to choose. After what is said to be months, Erowen Sunderland met Theon Stark aboard his flagship "the Ravenous " and bent the knee, swearing allegiance to the Winterfell. It's theorised that Erowen feared being at the wrong side should Theon emerge victorious; for tales about his brutality had spread across Westeros earning him a fearsome reputation ( this theory was further popularised by the kings own writings supposedly discovered a thousand years in some pirate's hands in the stepstones though that lowers its credibility).

No matter what made him choose that day, it would ultimately prove to be wise (or unwise depending on who you ask ) , Theon accepted his submission and his crown and in return Erowen was proclaimed as Warden of the sisters and lord of Sisteron, a title that would pass on to progeny when he died . Though many of the Sistermen supported this move, Erowen's own sister Marla refused to follow him and declared herself Queen adding yet another side to the war .

But it was all for naught as the combined forces of Theon and Erowen proved sufficient to turn the tides to the North's favour and the valemen were expelled . Queen Marla escaped with her small fleet into Essosi seas and would never be seen again, though her descendants eventually returned to plague Erowen's own .

The days of the pirate kings were over but that didn't mean that piracy stopped, on the contrary it flourished as now the Sistermen had the protection of the Stark navy as long as they didn't attack any ships in northern waters or under stark protection (and paid a share of their spoils to the Winter throne). As an added bonus, the Starks were content to let the Sistermen keep their original religion of the lady of the waves and lord of the skies (though over time to would be influenced by the old gods faith)

But conflict between the two kingdoms didn't end there, for Theon followed up with massive naval raids on Vale coasts devastating hundreds of villages towns and castles; in addition to causing the extinction of several houses. It's rumoured that when captured nobles were brought before him on deck and then would separated into two groups . Theon would offer mercy to one group if they threw the others into the sea. But those that had chosen to throw their fellow nobles found themselves following them into the waves ; only with their hands and feet tied. Out of them all only one noble survived, a young thirdborn whose original name is lost to time. His own father had thrown him to die but the youth managed to cling onto the ship long enough to impress Theon and ordered him brought back. The boy would loyally serve Theon for many years and took on the name Whitewayve which would become the name of his house.

Theon's campaign in the vale would only stop after the battle of Gulltown where he was finally defeated by the Arryn navy and retreated back to the north (though not before inflicting heavy losses ). Theon's lust for war was not satisfied however and as soon as he returned, began yet another campaign, this time in the Riverlands, which by then had fractured into civil war and infighting. Using a mix of both military power and playing the various factions against each other Theon managed to conquer all the Riverlands and even reached the Blackwater Bay . While he claimed he was only stepping in to stabilise the Riverlands and bring order. Whether there's any truth to that is heavily debated. It is certain that the North had benefited greatly from using the Riverlands resources but even the most diehard Stark Critics can't deny that he brought much needed stability to the region and the Northerners brought many agricultural advances to the starving kingdom.

And so Theon's reign was marked with further wars and the Hungry Wolf was almost victorious. But the king was not quite enjoying himself. After being injured in a war with the Lannisters in which he had taken the golden tooth; King Theon's behaviour grew more erratic . It's believed that Theon was fearing the effects of time on his weakening body. Others say he feared losing the frightening image he had crafted in front of his enemies and bannermen. Legend says that Theon had planned to start a war beyond the wall to bring the remaining wildling tribes to heel. This was a dangerous move as unlike other conflicts he dragged the north into, there was no actual benefit or spoils for the north here. His armies tired of war threatened to turn against him. Then a strange thing happened; after granting an audience to a group of green men and children of the forest; Theon for some reason abdicated the Winter throne to his son, gathering only his Wolf Guard with him and headed beyond the wall never to be seen again for centuries. But his story was not over yet.

In the end Theon left the North as the largest it has ever been stretching from the wall to the golden tooth and Blackwater Bay. But the Starks will find out just how hard it is to rule an empire.


	4. Of stars and trees

**Of trees and stars**

 **The war of faiths pt 1**

"One must be a great idiot to bow to a tree " the High Septon "the river one " to a captured Green sword

"One must be a greater idiot to bow to the statues he made " said to be the Green sword's rebuttal

"Old Gods , New Gods why not both " anyomyous Riverlander

"It was so much easier when we just had trees " King Oreins Durrandon

"The Gods I know wouldn't stand to such an atrocity " a septon upon seeing a first men village in the aftermath of a faith militant purge . The septon was executed later on charges of heresy

When the Andals came into Westeros, they didn't just bring steel and blood (though they undoubtedly brought those in plenty as well). They also brought a new type of war , wars that were fought with prayer and books instead of swords and the battlefields were the hearts and minds of the Westerosi.

While the North was successful in fending off the Andals, the other kingdoms weren't so fortunate and the victorious Andals started cutting down heartrees as false idols and killing the children of the forest and giants as demons . What's worse is that many of the first men joined them ; abandoning the old gods they had followed for so long and betraying their fellows who stuck to the Old Gods ; even houses like the Gardeners, who had styled themselves to be the rightful high kings of all First Men in Westeros due to their supposed descent from Garth Greenhand (who they claimed was the First King in Westeros) and the Lannisters . Both Houses allowing the Andals into their lands and marrying their daughters.

Needles to say those who refused to follow the Seven were slaughtered, their wives and daughters raped and even their children weren't spared . The septons even claimed that every poor fellow could kill ten 'heathens' to earn his way to the seven heavens and the more faithless he (or she ) kills the higher he ascends they claimed.

With all the manner of atrocities visited upon their followers it was only a matter of time before the Old Gods or rather their priests retaliated . The green men surged forward from their Isle of Faces and every corner of Westeros; riding their infamous war elk whose horns are said to be able to pierce steel armour like leather and wielding artefacts said to be infused with the power of the gods themselves.

At first their effect was rather limited, as for all their power the green men weren't a large order and thus lacked the numbers to face the faith militant head on, so instead they resorted to more shrewd methods of warfare. Patrols of faith militant soldiers would disappear only to be found in the morning, hanging from the septs; a blood stained smile on their faces. Villages would be attacked by massive wolf packs that left devastation wherever they went and those lords who betrayed their oaths to the gods would often meet truly horrific ends (The lord of the extinct house Raemis for example was found in his bead devoured alive by maggots).

As word of their deeds spread across the continent, people started to pledge themselves to the cause of the Old Gods cause, rallying around the Green men to form the Green Swords , a group dedicated to aiding the priests of the nameless gods (though that's the one thing everyone agreed on, for in everything else from methods of warfare to ideology differed between each warband).

Now with thousands of troops under their banner the Green Men , they could finally challenge the Faith militant head on , starting the _wars of faiths_ which would last for centuries , starting with the battle of the saltpans where an army of Green Swords clashed with a much larger Faith militant force . Most details of the battle are lost to us, such as the number of combatants , some say the Swords were outnumbered 5 to 1 , though more modest accounts place it at 1: 1: 1.5 in favour of the bearers of the seven stars .

What is widely known though is the outcome, for faith militant were slaughtered and the traumatised survivors retreated. Legend says that phenomenal Packs of Direwolves were unleashed , scaring the horses of the warriors sons while flocks of birds swarmed anyone who had the seven pointed stars carved into the all the while the Green Swords charged , heralded by Elk Calvary that crushed any foot soldier who dared stand in its way. Alongside them fought bears , shadow cats, lion lizards and some even say a giant .

The war of the sword and star (the first phase in the wars of the faith) was a conflict that while primarily fought in the Riverlands and the then nameless crownlands as to avoid antagonising any of the major kingdoms (though that did not stop them from supporting one side or the other) influenced every region in Westeros. While most of the battles went in the favour of those carrying the Hearttree banners that was only in the presence of the Green Men, without the tree priests the battles tended to be more evenly matched.

The first war ended when Theon Stark conquered the Riverlands and Crownlands burning every sept he could find and feeding septons to his Direwolf . However despite his best efforts Theon never completely stamped out the faith of the seven in his kingdom and his heirs were content to let peaceful septons and septas preach and build septs in the land (for a fee of course ) and ironically under the reign of the Starks, the two faiths coexisted peacefully. It was at this time that the first "bastard faiths" were born.

These religions born out of a mixture of both Andal and First Men faiths but were close to neither spread across the wartorn Riverlands like a plague and their numbers would increase when King Brandon Stark finished the famous Northern Canals bringing in the faith of the Drowned God and the religions of Essos and beyond into Westeros.

As for the Green Men , they retreated back to the Isle of Faces and the Green Swords disbanded though they would see resurgences during the Storm Wars and the reigns of Maegor and Baelor the Fanatic.

* * *

A/N : Finally this chapter was a bitch to write , between my exams, the writers block and personal problems but I finished it , enjoy and tell me what you think.

 ** _PRAISE THE MAKER OF STARS_**


	5. The Desolation of the Trident part 1

"My lords i am touched by the gentleness and chivalry you treated my dear cousin with , allow me to return the favour " King Draeken Stark, the Burner

"The Riverlands once rivaled the Reach itself in its prosperity. How far we have fallen" Lord Kevan Bracken after the battle of the blood river

"Burn it, BURN IT ALL" The Burner during the burning of the tooth

The descendants of the the Hungry Wolf inherited the largest kingdom in Westeros encompassing the entirety of the North, Riverlands, parts of the Westerlands and the future Dragonlands, but conquest was but a part of empire building and (as the Starks found out ) the easiest one at that.

The first king of Rivers and Ice was eldest son of the Theon, Marden Stark and his reign of fifty years was prosperous and passed mostly without incident. Grain and food brought from the Riverlands and gold from the golden tooth brought prosperity to the North and in turn the Riverlands benefited greatly from agricultural techniques introduced by the northerners such as crop rotation. Trade from the narrow sea flourished as ports were built on the mouth of the blackwater.

However the new king would still feel the effects of his father's brutal campaigns, many riverlords who bent the knee to escape Theon's wrath , resented the rule of the of the northern "wildlings " and sought to bring about to an independent Riverlands.

In that they would find allies in the Lannisters, who sought to reclaim their lost territories and the Starry Sept backed by the Reach, which by now had realised it would never defeat the Starks through strength in arms.

However there wasn't much they would be able to do in the reign of King Marden himself for the Wolf King had proven himself to be excellent in the art of ruling and had gained popular support in both the North and the conquered territories. He was nicknamed the 'Southern Wolf' for spending most of his reign away from Winterfell and south of the Neck to consolidate the Stark's new holdings.

His alliance with the Hoares had also proved to be an effective deterrent.

But when the king died after ruling for fifty years, the wannabe insurgents would find their chance in his young heir, king Brandon. The young prince was by all accounts intelligent yet not skilled in fighting and in many ways too naive and idealistic to handle the more shady aspects of ruling.

Luckily for him, his legitimized bastard sister , princess Elynia Stark, the shadow wolf, had proved to be more than adept in that task and for the first seven years of his reign peace endured despite the best efforts of dissidents.

The reign of Brandon was marked by finishing the northern canals whose construction had begun during his father's reign. The canals would bring traders from essos and the eastern merchants brought not only exotic goods but also brought new ideas, technologies and faiths into Westeros.

This however proves to be the perfect pretext for rebellion the lords of the Trident were looking for as they claimed that the northerners intended for the these foreign barbarians to replace the people of the trident and destroy the enlightened ways of Westeros.

The emergence of bastard faiths only served to reinforce that claim and allow the Faith of the Seven to rally people to its banner from everywhere from the Vale to the remaining holdouts in the Trident. It was not long before revolt spread throughout Stark lands south of the Neck and armies from other kingdoms started masquerading as raiders began to raid the land.

Still King Brandon still saw there was a chance for peace and sought to parley with the disgruntled lordlings , taking heavy guard with him. Under the banner of truce the king met with the riverlords but this proved to be a trap , and the king was killed in the ambush despite the best efforts of his sworn swords. And so began the years of terror.

The princess, now queen sent to Winterfell for aid. Her cousin Draeken Stark gathered the greatest army in a century and marched to save the queen but he was too late.

Riverfell, the Stark capital in the south was besieged by the rebel forces. Loyalist forces in the South were already stretched thin due to raider forces on the border and the Lannister army moving to reclaim the golden tooth so there was no army available to lift the siege

Faced with this, half of the garrison mutinied and after a bloodbath gained control of the castle and surrendered it to the rebels. The queen had tried to flee but was captured and handed over .

The tortures suffered by queen Elynia became the thing legends, with what she truly suffered at the hands of her captors either exaggerated or downplayed depending on who you ask. Though from the descriptions of septon Anord of the queen's walk of shame throughout the Riverlands, that the part concerning dogs chewing on her breasts was accurate.

When news of this reached the now king Draeken, the new monarch (already known for his aggressive nature ) was enraged at the death of his family. Though he would have liked nothing more than to reclaim the Stark holdings in their name, the arrival of fresh faith militant forces from all corners of Westeros and the temporary alliance between the Gardeners and Lannisters meant that such a task was unlikely to succeed and even if it did it would be costly and phyrric at best. So the new king decided that if the Starks could not benefit from these lands, then the dogs who killed his family won't either. His decision would prove to be critical to the history of the Kingdoms.

And so in front of his new subjects, the Stark swore that the Riverlords would drown in blood and ash; beginning what would be later known as the desolation of the RIverlands.

A/N : IT LIVES. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, still can't find any beta readers, not any good ones at least.


	6. The Desolation of the Trident part 2

_"One cannot win wars with madmen" Lord Lores Lannister after the battle of the Tooth_

 _" I would say winter came to these lands but in truth the Mad Wolf brought not ice but fire " anonymous Malister soldier_

The devastation of the trident was an event that irrecoverably shook the foundations of Westeros .

King Draeken Stark , determined to avenge the humiliation, mutilation and death of his beloved his sister as well as the deaths of thousands of Northernmen killed during the rebellion of the riverlords, had brought with him the near total might of the Northern armies.

The singers still sing of grim faced northerners marching to battle alongside armored mammoth riding giants , children of the forest who wielded powerful magics as well as hordes of various beasts bound by the wargs and greenseers.

The Riverlords, undeterred called upon the southern kingdoms for aid against the barbaric forces of the northern demons. In return they cast aside their original faith and embraced the seven . The Reach was the first to answer the call, being the heart of the worship of the seven who are one (and it's king desiring to gain new territories), they were soon followed by the westermen, who immediately laid siege to the Golden Tooth.

The Iron Islands surprisingly did not partake directly in the conflict, though many Ironborn would fight as sellsails and sellswords on both sides . But all through not one longship dared to assault northern shipping, the Ironborn remembered all too well just how brutal the Starks could be if provoked.

The Vale you had declared its neutrality, the prospect of facing the Northern fleets at the sisters silenced any calls for war, though in essence the Arryns were forgiving whenever one of their lords "went rogue" to oppose the Starks on their own

The Stormlands and Dorne were embroiled in their own civil wDraeken and played little part in the war.

What the armies of the alliance lacked in terms of quality they more than made it up with numbers.

This only drove Draeken Stark to make up the number disparity with a level of brutality unseen before since the days of the Hungry Wolf and even then the new Stark king seemed keen on surpassing his ancestor.

Previously almost every conflict in Westeros had been fought with the goal of acquiring wealth and territory which had the side effect of limiting the devastation of wars. Noble houses were spared and retained their powers if they bent the knee to the winning side .

The Desolation changed all of that as the North fought with aim of causing as much devastation as possible. Any castle or keep captured was systematically dismantled beyond any hope of repair , its ruling family slaughtered down to the squealing infants and any bastards that might one day claim the line. Wells were poisoned , the land salted and all smallfolk killed.

Even those houses that sought to change allegiances or even took no side in the conflict were not spared. That combined with the deaths of many Lords and knights in the multitude of battles led to the extinction of at least two thirds of Riverland houses.

Amongst the most formidable weapons of house Stark was wildfire ; a highly flammable substance created by the order of the pyromancer who had been invited to winterfell at the young king's (then prince) invitation. Draeken has always been enthralled by fire (ironically for a stark) and now he wanted to unleash it on the battlefield.

The first use of wildfire in the history of Westeros was at the battle of Tooth, using swarms of birds to drop barrels of the substance on the besieging Lannister army before archers rained down flaming arrows on the confused Lannister armies; the effect was devastating and effectively knocked out the Lannisters out of the fight. King Lores Lannister himself survived though his face was horribly disfigured and he opted to not continue the conflict after witnessing the extent of Draeken's brutality.

The tooth was subsequently torn down , all its mines and farmlands destroyed before the northerners marched away. A fate shared by tens of others castles and keeps.

Still despite winning most battles, many among Draeken's lords grew weary with the war; unlike other kingdoms the north relied mainly not on peasant levies but trained professional soldiers modelled after the ancient Ghiscari and the Valyrian legions that copied them afterwards . This meant that though losses on the northern camp were less than its southern camp, they were much harder to replace.

In attempt to mitigate this , Stark monarch hired sellsword companies from across the narrow sea to supplement his army and while they proved adequate enough on the battlefield, they still caused headaches for the King. Slavery was forbidden by both the old gods and the new, however the essosi has no such obligation and thousands of captured rivermen, women and children were sold into slavery.

This proved to be too much even for Stark's most fanatical anti southern supporters. In addition while the desolation campaign's psychological effect caused many enemy lords to withdraw lest they face the wrath of winter, those that remained offered no quarter or mercy and were determined to fight to the bloody end.

The Stark armies were camped in the ruins of Oldstones when during a war council the northern lords and magnars demanded that Draeken allow them to return to their lands and end the war for had he not achieved his vengeance? Had the breadbasket of Westeros not been ruined enough ? The king however wasn't satisfied, to him the war would not be over until every last riverlord was dead and every inch of its land turned to a blasted ruin. He and his lords argued for days with no end in sight and it looked like infighting would erupt soon.

However the northerners were spared from further conflict when the king was caught in a wildfire explosion while inspecting the arm's reserves of it. It is said that Draeken laughed maniacally even as the flames consumed him, such was the insanity in his laughs that even the beasts in the camp grew silent and weary.

With their king dead, the armies of the winter throne retreated back behind the neck, where they swore loyalty to the king's daughter and only heir.

This meant that technically that the southern alliance (or what's left of it ) had technically won. Unfortunately for them the 'victory ' was almost as bitter as defeat. With most of the Riverlands devastated beyond any hope of repair, it was pointless to hold and it wasn't long before they too went back to their own lands.

This left the riverlords , who arguably were the true losers in this conflict. Most of their smallfolk were killed or enslaved. The few that weren't faced bands of brigands and sellswords that neither side had felt worth dealing with.

House Mallister was among the scant survivors and only by the virtue of bending the knee to house Hoare and not participating in the conflict. House Blackwood too survived relatively intact and ironically outlived house Bracken who were made extinct in the war.

The Desolation of the Riverlands was over and the great game of Westeros would continue with one less member. That didn't mean things got any less bloody.

 ** _A/N : IT LIVES. Alright from this point forward we will be skipping much faster in time until we reach the time of the books._**


	7. The Great Game continues

_**For all those who wanted faster updates : Ask and you shall receive**_

* * *

As the saying used to go "The seven kingdoms shit and the Riverlands wipe ". Thanks to Draekan Stark that was no longer possible. The Riverlands had been rendered essentially useless to any would be conquerors .

This meant that from now on, any of the Westerosi warmongering and expansionist rulers would need to directly contest territories from their neighbors or attempt to claim the inhospitable Dornish deserts , this in turn would make the great game of Westeros much more bloody as armies fought in the more populous kingdoms.

Ironically despite this not one kingdom had dared to assault the North even indirectly for hundreds of years lest they end up provoking the Starks. The Starks for their part were content to grow rich and prosperous from trade with Essos and would take no part in the southern games.

The Iron Islands however benefited from both trades with the Starks and the wars of the south. The Hoares were a house that unlike other ironborn at the time didn't sneer at trading and "paying the gold price " as the other ironborn did. They exploited the ignorance of their kin to grow rich and covertly increase their own power and influence until they rivalled house Greyiron itself, eventually managing to overthrow the ancient house at the kingsmoot through a mix of bribery and intimidation.

Under their stewardship the Ironborn would turn from a minor backwater kingdom to one of the kingmakers of Westeros. The Hoares first strengthened ties to the Starks and Lannisters (and in turn the Old gods and the faith of the seven respectively) in order to counteract the domestic influence of the Drowned Men who had repeatedly denounced the Hoares as blasphemers and unworthy of the Seastone chair.

Harmund the Host was the first openly literate king of the Iron Islands and welcomed scholars, smiths and traders from across the known world. He would also be the first king to allow the greenmen and septons on the Isles. During his reign he would further build ties with the North through both trade and marriage alliances.

Predictably as the Hoares attempted to reform the Priests of the Drowned God rebelled and they did it multiple times with every reform.

Unfortunately for them the Hoares had used these rebellions as pretexts to wipe out any treacherous or potentially treacherous lords lessening highborn patronage for the up. Worse (for the drowned priests) , the increasing wealth the Hoares brought in and the improvements to the life of the average iron islander meant that support for their revolts dwindled with each successive attempt and each one was answered with ever more censorship and cruel reprisals.

By the time of the desolation the Drowned men were stripped of any power and the last of its members had their limbs hacked off before being dumped into the Dornish deserts ; afterwards a new clergy wholly subservient to the The Salt Throne was formed, these new Drowned men would be far less fanatical and less bloodthirsty in following the Drowned God.

That isn't to say the Hoares intended to curb Ironborn battle lust, far from it they simply wished to control and direct it at more profitable targets. The Iron company was made no less than a decade before the desolation. Made up of no less than 50 longships and crewed by at least ten thousand fully armoured men, the Iron company was and still remains the largest sellsword/sellsail company in the world.

Though under the control of the Hoares(who received a large portion of its earnings), the company was allowed free reign in ito dealings and contracts, so long as they didn't disrupt trade or start wars. They would be hired by various kings and lords in the many wars between the kingdoms of Westeros and earned a reputation for their effectiveness and brutality. Though many other sellsail companies would spring up in their wake, the Iron company remains the most prominent.

Further south however things were not as prosperous for the Reach.

Less than a few years after the desolation , The Storm King Osric Durrandon ,who had previously expanded his holdings all the way to the mouth of Blackwater Bay and worked to build up the strength of the Stormlands after the preceding civil war (including building a small but growing storm fleet) , sensed weakness in the Reach after its devastating losses in the war for the Riverlands. Seizing upon the discontent many reach lords felt for their Greenhand overlords, Osric swayed many of them to his side and invaded with 50 thousand men.

His invasion proved to be successful as he smashed the unprepared hosts of Highgarden in many battles and his storm fleet with the aid of the Iron company even managed to set the arbor ablaze in a surprise attack. However just as the road to Highgarden was opened , he received word that the rival Dornish kings and princes had united in a grand alliance and taken the Marches and were surging to the rest of the Stormlands.

The Storm king was forced to retreat to save his homeland with much of his army, this allowed the Gardeners who had made an alliance with the Lannisters to retake much of their territory.

King Oscric would smash the Dornish in the battle of Nightsong but his armies were exhausted from years of constant war and he would never again be able to regain his conquests in the Reach.

As for the Dornish, their alliance fell the second their armies did and soon the Martells, Daynes, Yornwoods and many others would return to their wars. Until a massive fleet carrying the Rhyonish survivors from their war against the Valyrians landed on Dornish shores.

Its leader princess Nymeria would make Dorne a home for her people by marrying Mors Martell and together they would try to unite Dorne into a single princedom. That task would soon prove far more difficult than expected.

And so the Great wheel of Westeros spun as it ever did, crushing houses and allowing others to rise to power only for them to be usurped and replaced continuing the game.

Of course that wasn't true everywhere


	8. Nymeria's war

When Nymeria arrived on the shores of Dorne after the Rhoynar's traumatic flight from the Valyrian onslaught ; she found it a harsh desert , divided by a dozen petty king each hoping to unite it under his own banners.

These wars were fuelled by the Stormlands and the Reach who each would support a king in an attempt to gain influence . House Dayne was an exception in that it would not be supported by neither of the Kingdoms but survived mostly independently with only informal aid from northern sympathizers.

The Yornwoods, the Martells, the Daynes and the Ullers stood as the only contenders who had any hope of uniting Dorne but none could hope to triumph over the other three . This changed with the arrival of the Rhoynar near sunspear . King Mors Martell and Princess Nymeria had sealed an alliance in marriage ; in return for allowing the Rhoynar to settle in his lands, Nymeria would aid the Martells in the quest to unite the Dornish peninsula .

They were met with success at first , securing the entirety of the Greenblood river and conquering much of the Salty shore aided by the battered albeit still massive Rhoynish fleet which was uncontested in the Dornish shores (none of the Dornish kings having the capacity to build fleets of their own ).

However things became more complicated afterwards as the other Dornish kings realised the threat posed by the success of the Martells not just in military terms but in terms of the foreign culture the Rhoynar brought which threatened long standing traditions.

As is common in many conflicts, sworn enemies were united to stand against a seemingly foreign enemy (the fact that Andal and even arguably First Men traditions also counted as foreign to Westeros was conveniently forgotten ).

This alliance of Dornishmen opposed to Martell dominance was supported surprisingly by the Durrandons, Lannisters and Gardeners who for all their hatred for each other, saw the danger that a united Dorne could be . This support came mostly in the form of funds and "volunteering " knights who fought for the newly dubbed Western alliance (In reference to most of its participants' lands being West of Greenblood ).

However the support would remain mostly nominal as none wanted to commit to the conflict only to have that being taken advantage off by the other two .

Still Dorne being the least populated of all the kingdoms every soldier counts and the additional forces proved to be a boon.

The Martell's momentum suddenly ground to a halt as they started to face forces much larger and in most cases better equipped than them . Undaunted the forces of the sun banner instead avoided any decisive actions and instead resorted to skirmishes, assassinations and sabotaging supply lines among other tactics to negate the numerical advantage.

The enemy seeing through this responded in kind , poisoning Wells, sacking any settlements they found and sending saboteurs behind enemy lines. This war is unique in Westerosi history for its lack of large scale battles.

There would only be two real army clashes in the entire conflict: The sack of Starfall and the battle of Planky Town .

The first came as a result of House Dayne's shifting allegiance in the war . At first they had supported the Martells but once their fortunes changed had tried to change sides to the Western Alliance . Informed of this by their spies the Martell-Rhoynish forces launched an attack and after a bloody managed to take the castle. Though most of the family had succeeded in escaping to Andalos beforehand, King Daren Dayne and his two eldest sons remained behind .

Though the king was killed in action, his sons were not so fortunate their horrendous fate being well known throughout Westeros . House Dayne still survives to this day as a trading house in Bravos but have abandoned any hope of reclaiming their now ruined lands . Instead they are content with living comfortably and searching for the missing Dawn (the legendary sword being lost in the Sack ).

The battle of Planky town however would be the one that decided the war . The Western Alliance , in an effort to finally end the war in their favour had hired the Iron Company in an effort to match the Rhoynish fleet and to transport troops directly to the heart of Martell power .

The battle was legendary, though the Rhoynish fleet was larger than its iron counterpart, its crews were inexperienced when it came to actual naval battles which made them easy prey for their battle hardened Ironborn counterparts. To make the matters worse for the Martells many of their ships were heavily damaged and barley floating when the attack started .

This allowed troops to land and begin their attack on the trading town. Still the Martells and their Rhoynish allies did not surrender with men and women alike picking up any sharp object they can find and resisting the invaders with everything they had .

The battle was nasty, bloody and thuggish but the tide at last seemed to go in favour of the alliance but Nymeria had one last trump card to play. Boxed in and with no hope of escape Rhoynish ships began to explode in flames bringing enemy ships down with them .

The Princess had packed many of her ships with Wildfire to prevent them from being captured and with the battle going against them ordered any ship with no hope of its crew escaping to light their caches .

Though in totality less than a dozen ships actually went up in green flames, the explosions were enough to make the Iron Company captains weary of losing their ships and deciding that the pay wasn't worth losing their ships abandoned their employers who were pushed back by the defenders. To this day the inhabitants of Western Dorne still hold the Ironborn in contempt for their cravenly escape.

Nevertheless the loss of the battle resulted in the fracture of the alliance as each kingdom blamed the others for the defeat and withdrew their support. Still the Martells were too exhausted to attempt to conquer the entirety of Dorne and so signed a peace ; resigning themselves to ruling the Eastern parts of Dorne .

They would carve a prosperous kingdom out of the Harsh deserts , the surviving water wizards aiding in massive irrigation projects and trade with the summer isles making the East Dornishmen rich from the trade of exotic goods and hardwood.

Their Western counterparts also had peace amongst themselves as none dared to give their eastern rivals an opening to finish what Nymeria started .

Overtime the Eastern and Western Dorne would become radically different; one more green, heavily influenced by Esossi and summer island traditions and relying on its fleets while the other was mostly a desert, mostly Andal in its culture and mainly land based.

But if there's one thing they both share it's their mutual hatred for each other


End file.
